{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T22:58:20Z","timestamp":1779922700031,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,14]],"date-time":"2022-02-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644796800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The role of type I interferons (IFNs) in the early phase of COVID-19 remains\u00a0unclear.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>To evaluate the relationship between IFN-I levels in patients with COVID-19\u00a0and clinical presentation, SARS-CoV-2 viral load, and other major pro-inflammatory\u00a0cytokines.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This prospective observational study recruited patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The levels of interferon-alpha (IFN-\u03b1), interferon-beta (IFN-\u03b2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL10) within 5 days after symptom onset were measured using an ELISA, in serum from blood collected within 5 days after the onset of symptoms. The SARS-CoV-2 viral load was determined <jats:italic>via<\/jats:italic> qPCR using nasal-swab specimens and serum.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study enrolled 50 patients with COVID-19. IFN-\u03b1 levels were significantly higher in patients who presented with pneumonia or developed hypoxemic respiratory failure (p &amp;lt; 0.001). Furthermore, IFN-\u03b1 levels were associated with viral load in nasal-swab specimens and RNAemia (p &amp;lt; 0.05). In contrast, there was no significant association between IFN-\u03b2 levels and the presence of pneumonia or RNAemia, despite showing a stronger association with nasal-swab viral load (p &amp;lt; 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that the serum levels of IFN-\u03b1 significantly correlated with those of IFN-\u03b2, IL-6, and CXCL10, while the levels of IFN-\u03b2 did not correlate with those of IL-6 or CXCL10.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Serum IFN-I levels in the early phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection were higher in patients who developed hypoxemic respiratory failure. The association between IFN-\u03b1, IL-6, and CXCL10 may reflect the systemic immune response against SARS-CoV-2 invasion into pulmonary circulation, which might be an early predictor of respiratory failure due to COVID-19.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2022.844304","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,14]],"date-time":"2022-02-14T05:55:50Z","timestamp":1644818150000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Circulating Type I Interferon Levels in the Early Phase of COVID-19 Are Associated With the Development of Respiratory 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